


Rumpelstiltskin

by lunabee34 (Lorraine)



Category: Firefly
Genre: Backstory, Fairy Tales, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-29
Updated: 2010-01-29
Packaged: 2017-10-06 19:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorraine/pseuds/lunabee34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No, something living is more important to me than all the treasures in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rumpelstiltskin

1.  
Regan Tam doesn't believe in astrology. She finds its adherents either laughably old-fashioned or ridiculously modern. But the other members of the Sakura Prefecture Lady's Guild consider Madame Cho as important an advisor as their tax brokers, and Regan wants her husband's career to succeed. So she drinks tea with the others in a small sitting room adorned with fantastic representations of the zodiac.

Madame Cho is a particularly large woman. Regan suspects she has cultivated her girth for effect. In the Core, virtually no one is overweight; weight maintenance drugs are readily available, if expensive, and most of the diseases that cause weight gain were eradicated long ago. As a result, Regan is surprised that she does not find Madame Cho repulsive. Rather than grotesque, the astrologer is statuesque, a commanding presence that overshadows the other women in the room.

Regan hopes her companions will be satisfied with simple readings. The Sakura Regional Primary School science fair will open its exhibits to public viewing in less than an hour, and Regan is certain Simon's entry will once again receive highest honors. These hopes are dashed when Irina Gates smoothes a hand down the front of her raw silk dress and draws a small CompuPad from her handbag. Irina's dress is a replica of a Zac Posen design from the early twenty-first century. The original dress hangs in her husband's museum. As an anniversary gift, he copyrighted the pattern under the Earth-that-Was Material Goods Act and then had Osiris's oldest design house sew the dress for her in several colors and fabrics. Not many items of couture escaped Earth-that-Was; most of what the exiles left with was digitally stored information and objects of a more practical kind. Knowing she is the only woman lawfully permitted to wear this garment is a coup for Irina. Her social standing was on precarious footing last season when rumors circulated that she was having an affair with her husband's young Information Technology Assistant.

Irina says, "Madame Cho, I've brought you the resumes of the applicants for my housekeeping position. I wonder if you could give me your opinion on each candidate's suitability."

Madame Cho takes the CompuPad into her thick fingers, and Regan resists the urge to roll her eyes. She cannot afford to alienate any of these women. Gabriel's rise in the business arena depends just as strongly on what happens in the parlor as what happens in the boardroom. Regan knows this firsthand; her father was CEO of Allied Galactic Grains, a subsidiary of the Blue Sun Corporation, until his death. Her eldest brother now heads the company.

Regan takes another sip of tea, but the cold liquid unsettles her stomach. Time passes, and she is startled to realize that Madame Cho is speaking to her. "Pardon me. I was so absorbed in examining these carvings that I didn't hear you speak."

Madame Cho smiles, her lips stretching across her broad face. "I'm pleased that you admire them. The one you have been staring at was a gift from Senator Takei. I was enquiring about your pregnancy, my dear. Have you begun the baby's layette?"

As if from very far away, Regan watches the cup slip from her fingers to the table and sliver into a half dozen crescent moons.

2.  
Regan feels as if she might throw up.

"Are you threatening our children?" She doesn't intend to whisper, but her voice has lost its force. Gabriel grasps her hand under the table and squeezes until the bones in her fingers ache.

"Of course not, Mrs. Tam. I'm merely informing you of your options and outlining potential consequences." He smiles at her patronizingly. She still does not know this man's name. He's offered them no identification, save the irrefutable proof of his authority via his thumbprint. "Your family has been chosen for great things, Regan Tam. Your son is poised on the brink of a storied career in medicine, and your daughter . . . Well, River is a gift. Her test scores indicate that she is completely alive. Do you know what it means to be well and truly alive, Mrs. Tam? River is able to use parts of her brain that most of us will never access. Oh, yes, she is a gift, one you will bestow on the State."

Gabriel stands then, Regan's hand sliding from his grip. "We're not signing away our guardianship of River. The very idea is preposterous." Gabriel is the tallest person in the room, and his posture should be threatening, but Regan knows their guest cannot be threatened. "You are right about one thing, Sir. River is a gift, one we received late in life and never expected. You are not taking my daughter anywhere."

The man smiles again, and at his expression, fear coils deep in Regan's belly. "You will lose one of your children or both. The choice is entirely yours. I will withdraw to the music room for one half hour."

When they are finally alone, Regan cannot look at Gabriel. She can see too much of River in the shape of his mouth for her to bear.

3.

Regan braces herself against the sideboard and accepts the wave. She is not sitting, a choice she's certain she'll regret. On the screen, River is thinner. Her cheeks are still too rounded for Regan to think her gaunt, but River's eyes are purple hollows and her hair is tangled across her brow.

"Mother," River says.

Regan doesn't know why They've allowed River to contact her, and then she notices the man slumped on the table, blood spiraling down the legs of his chair. River presses both palms to the monitor, and for a moment, Regan fears her hands will reach through. "River, darling, what . . ?"

"Shhh . . . It's okay. You had to follow the script. A miller's daughter never could spin straw into gold." She pauses, frowns. "But the metaphor's all wrong. You never guessed his name, and I'm the one to split in two."

River's face is so close to the viewscreen that her eyes are each the size of one of Regan's fists. Regan thinks, _She could swallow me whole._

Regan can hear noises coming from somewhere outside the frame, a metallic pinging that escalates in volume. River turns to look, and in profile, she is still so beautiful that Regan can hardly breathe.

"I don't have to ask why," River says. "I already know. I've always known. Don't worry, Mother. I won't tell Simon." She whirls around again, and the final thing Regan says to her daughter before the screen goes dark is nothing.

 

*The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm Ed. Jack Zipes, pg 211


End file.
